Buncombe County declared Realtors essential workers last week.  For the week of Ap. 10-17 2020 there was definitely more showing actions.  We will know next week if these showings will become pending with next weeks stats.  (Remember, our stats are based on the past week.)   I wanted to compare this week to the same time last year to see if there has been any real impact in our local real estate market. This week the stats are only for Buncombe County and single-family residential homes.  I created a table and chart using our regional MLS statics.  Be sure to look at charts and table to get an idea of what I’m talking about.

For this week I thought it would be interesting to compare the same week last year.  Amazingly there were an increase in new active listings for the 2020. The majority were in the price points between the $300K-$500K.  I think the large amount in one week was because sellers held off for a few weeks when the first Covid-19 restrictions were established. Now that buyers can actually see the house sellers are ready to list.  This is also probably true for listing that went under contract. Many buyers had seen a house online or had viewed it once and wanted to go back before making the offer.  Most of the houses that went under contract this week were in the $300K.  Withdraws were about the same in number between 2020 and 2019. The unusual part is that this week the majority of the listing that were withdrawn were in the $200K.

The very big difference was closing.  Only 24 this week and 77 last year!  This is the results of the “stay at home” restrictions.  Buyers who were looking and are not currently looking have put the search on hold. Again we see the average sales price being in the $300K.

I expect the next 30 days will show similar results with the closing being low but new listings and under contract continuing to be steady. What happens the next 30 days will affect our real estate market for the summer session.  It really is a wait and see.

Right now sellers are not ready to lower their price unless it is a hardship sale.  Cash is good but not king if buyers are still looking for a 30 day close.   Cash and fast close, 15 days or less is what sellers really want and if you can do that, then a buyer might get a very good deal.

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